Journal box lid



G. B. DOREY JOURNAL BOX 'LID July 17, 1951 Original Filed Sept; 4, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 G. B. DOREY JOURNAL BOX LID July 17, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Sept. 4, 1945 Patented July 17, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Substituted for abandoned application Serial No.

614,365, September4, 1945;:

This application April 25, 1949,.SerialN0. 895530 Claims. (Cl. 3084'7)v My invention relates'to animproved journal box lid. and is a substitute for my abandoned application Serial No. 614,365 filed September 4, 1945.

An object of the invention isto prov-idevan improved type of lid which will. incorporate the advantages of articulation to the end that the lid may be self adjusting and still function with.

improved lid assembly contemplates an articu-- lated assembly having a carrier andv a cover pivoted to the carrier inwhich the axis of articulation is located away from the. center ofv the cover and disposed. adjacent to the. swinging edge of the lid whereby the major portion of. the cover is embraced by the carrier.

Another object of the invention is to providean articulated. lid assembly wherein. all the rela.-- tively movable parts associated with; the applica-- tion of spring; pressure will be-completely enclosed and thus protected from the elements.

Another further object of my invention is to provide a two piece lid assembly wherein the parts are at all times under sprin tension. and. to provide suitable equalizing means for applying spring pressure to the respective parts of the assembly.

Another particular object. of my invention is to provide an articulated lid assembly including a carrier and a cover pivotally associated with the carrier and to provide spring pressurev acting on the cover at a location spaced from the-axis of articulation whereby a turning movement is applied on the cover to resiliently maintain the latter firmly in. position and to provide abutmentsfOr'limiting the extent of turnin movement.

My invention further resides in certain. im-' provements and detail of parts such as will be more fully pointed out hereinafter. and claimed. For further comprehension of my invention,

reference may be had to theaccompanying draw- I ings, wherein Fig. 1 is a vertical side elevational view "of a journal box showing. my improved; lid construction applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a frontal elevational view of the journal box shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the upper portion of the. box, said sectional view correspondin substantially to a line 33 of Fig. 2 but. showin the carrier portion of the assembly in .open position. The view also illustrates in conventional dot and dash lines the positionofthe parts with the spring in non-tensioned position.

Fig. 4- is. a transverse sectional view taken through. the lid assembly and on a line 4-4 of Fig.- l and showing the pivotal mounting'of the cover. on: its associated carrier.

Fig. 5- is a transverse sectional viewthrough the lid assembly on a line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and ShOWiIlg the relation of the engaging surfacesformed on the'lever and cover respectively.

Fig. 6- is atransverse sectional view through the upper part of the lid assembly as takenton a.line--66# of. Fig. 1, said View indicating the structure employed for housing the projecting abutments associated with. the cover.

v Referring now to the drawings, my improvements are shown as applied to a journal box of the type used for the trucks of railway rolling stock. In. said drawings the journal box is indi catedi at Ill and is shown with side walls ll:-l I united with-xeachi other by transversely extendiing. top wall. [land a transversely extending. lower curved wall l3, said walls ll, [:2 and i3 co-operating to define an. opening l4. Extend..-

in'g: upwardly from the central portion of. thetop wall 12 is a hinge lug l5 apertured for the receptionoflid pivot l6, said pivot serving to mount the lid assembly" onthe journal box.

The lid-assembly includes-a cover A, a carrier-B, a coiled torsion spring- C, an equalizing lever D and a pivot E. Said pivot E is themedium whereby the cover is mounted on the carrier and serves to support thecover from the carrier in. a' manner to provide a movement of articulation.

The cover- A includes a generally flat" body portion" I! having down turned marginal flanges l'8extending substantially around the entire box opening. At the lower edge of the cover there is a lip l9 by means of which the cover may be readily handled for opening or closing operations.

At its upper end the cover is provided with a pair of lateral. projections 2020' spaced apart a sufficient distance to straddle thehinge lug l5 of the journal box. Said lugs are preferably formed of angular shape and constitute abutr inents to limit articulating movement of the cover with respect to the carrier.

A pair of spaced hinge lugs 2 I2l extend outwardly from the body portion of the cover for the purpose of receiving pivot pin E whereby the cover is mounted on the carrier. Intermediate the lugs the body portion of the lid is dished as indicated at 22 to accommodate the outer end of the carrier as will be pointed out hereinafter. Each said hinge lug 2| flares outwardly as at 23 and the outer end of the flared portion is formed with an end wall 24, said flare 23 and endwall 24 co-operate to form a shouldered flared pocket in which the pivot E is flared and thereby retained against lengthwise movement. The pivot E preferably consists of a tube or pipe having the ends split by sawcuts 25 to facilitate spreading and flaring of the ends.

The carrier B is preferably made of pan-shaped formation including a plate like body portion 28 having a depressed portion 21 to receive the coiled portion of the spring C. Th pan-shaped formation is made up of side walls 2828 and transversely extending walls indicated at 29 and 3% respectively.

Extending laterally from each side wall'28 at the upper portion of the retainer beyond the upper marginal edge of the cover are hinging ears 3|3i. The hinging ears 3| are each formed with an elongated chamber 32 including side walls 33-33 and arcuate shaped end wall portions At the outer end of each ear there is a wall section 35 formed with an aperture 36, said aperture corresponding substantially to the shape of pivot i permitting insertion of said pivot through the aperture. In order to insert the pivot [6 through the hinging ears and lug l5 of the box, the apertures 36 are aligned with the aperture in the box lug and the pivot I6 is then inserted and thereafter rests in the lower portion of the elongated chamber to be there'retained by the tension of the spring C. Said pivot [6 when positioned in the lower portion of the chamber 32 is secured against lengthwise movement by the vertical sections 35.

Each hinging ear 3| at its upper part adjacent the cover has an opening 31 which extends lengthwise of the car a suflicient distance to accommodate the associated proj ecting bracket por- The side walls 26 of the car-' tions of the cover. rier are directed laterally outwardly as at 38 and thereafter are deflected downwardly at 39, for a limited distance in order to present a housing medium for the projecting bracket portions 20 of the cover. The said laterally extending wall, 38

and depending wall 39 merge into the upper arcuate portion 34 of the hinging ear and at the opposite end the laterally extending wall 38 curves.

downwardly as at 80 to form the end wall of the housing section.

The end of the carrier remote from the hinge lug pivot H5 is formed, outwardly of the wall 30, with an elongated bearing section 4| which is-in the form of an eye with an aperture 42 extending therethrough to receive pivot E. Said aperture is provided with upper and lower' convex bearing surfaces indicated at 42 and 43 respectively, said curved surfaces being for the purpose of allowing a certain degree of angling movement of the cover.

On the inner or lower side of Wall portion 26 there is formed an integral lever seat 45, which preferably consists of a bracket having a depending wall-46 which curves rearwardly at its lower margin as at 4'! and thereafter extends substantially in parallelism with the body wall portion 26 to present a marginal wall 48. Said bracket is reinforced at its ends by end walls 4949 and the depending wall portion 46 is slotted as at '50 to provide a lever seat for member D.

The spring C, which is preferably of the torsion type, is formed of spring wire and includes a pair of coiled portions 5l5l and arms leading in opposite directions from said coiled portions as indicated at 52 and 53 respectively. The arm portion 52 which extends upwardly towards the hinge 1 lug of the box is formed in the shape of a loop and is fitted with an antifriction roller Ed, said roller having engagement with the lug 15. The other arm portion 53 includes the two ends of the spring which lead from the outer ends of the coils to'wards'theswinging edge of the lid assembly and are bent inwardly towards each other to present inwardly extending trunnion portions 5555.

Pivotally associated with the said trunnion portions 55 of the spring is the lever D, said lever preferably includes a flat body portion 56 with downwardly turned side flange portions 5l5l which are apertured at 58 to receive the trunnion portions 55 of the spring 0. The flat portion 56 at one end seats on the lower edge portion of the slot 56 and at the opposite end of the lever consists of a depending flange 59 formed by bending the end portion of the lever plate, the edge portion Gil of the depending flange 59 constitutesthe bearing surface of the lever and is preferably flat to engage with a transversely curved bearing surface GI formed on the cover.

The bearing engagement between seat 60 on the lever and seat 6! on the cover is disposed appreciably to one side of the pivotal axis of the pivot E and thus the pressure of the spring on the cover operates to exert a turning movement of the cover about its pivotal axis. With the lid assembly in open position the pressure of the spring through the lever D forces the cover into engagement with the pivot l6 and the projecting abutments 20-20 limit the extent of the swinging movement of the cover about its axis E. The fact that the cover is resiliently held by the spring action when the lid assembly is in open position is an important factor in eliminating rattling and also operates to cushion the violence of the impact as the lid is slammed to closed position. i 1

It will be apparent by reference to Fig. 1 that there is a limited space between the pivot It andthe projecting abutments 20 when the assemthe pivot E and the lower curved surface of the carrier will be accompanied by a substantially similar rolling action between surface 6!! of the lever and the-curved surface 6| of the cover. Y The tensioning of the spring isaccomplished after the carrier has been pivotally mounted on the lug by pivot iii-and prior-to the application of the cover. In the mounting of the lid assembly the carrier is first pivotally mounted on the lug and with the carrier in open position as'indicated in Fig. 3 the spring and equalizing lever are positioned as, indicated by conventional-dot and dash lines,, the roller beingginncontact with the ing h ndthe; lever in contact with curved lever; p rtion 411. of the fulcrumr, A11 removable bar as indicatedrati 62: is, .thenvinserted; in the. opening 63: formedin, the body of the lever D andthe saidilever'D is then, camm'ediaround the curved wallll ofthevfulcrumbyga turning move: ment of the bar, fizhuntilgsuch; time asithe: partsassumethe positionxshown; in full, lines iniFig. 3..

A-removable, pin '64, is-extended; around through. the openings 656,5 formed-intheuside walls. of: the, carrier; whereby the lever D, is maintained: in retracted position by; reason. anther-fact; that the pin underlies the body of the leverzwwith the lever and" spring; thus held in retracted position, the cover is next applied and the pivot E inserted and the; end'si-ofi the. latter flared after which the pin 64.. is removed. and. the-lever D then bears directly on the cover.

The disposition of the axis of articulation be yond the center-of the opening results in the cover having unequal arm portions, the; upper part being-preferably proportioned to approximate two thirds of the cover-a;nd;,the other; arm one third. This unequal division of the cover is conducive to stability as the major part of the cover is embraced by the carrier and the direction of support extends on a line 66 which lies closely adjacent to the body of the cover. The favourable supporting condition above described is brought about partly by the use of the long carrier employed and partly by the positioning of the pivot E to lie immediately adjacent to the outer face of the cover. The depressed portion 22 of the cover receives the eye portion 4| of the carrier.

It will be noted that the application of pressure on the cover through the medium of lever D is at a location slightly below the center of the opening, said center being indicated in Fig. 1 by the numeral 61. The positioning of the bearing pressure on the cover at a location disposed between the center of the opening and the axis of articulation partly compensates for such extra spring pressure as would normally be applied at the upper margin of the cover by reason of the turning movement exerted on the cover by the spring presure.

With my improved construction the moving parts are entirely housed and protected from the elements and the insertion or removal of an assembly or renewal of a spring is an exceptionally simple operation.

The projections 20, when the cover is mounted in position, extend across the face of the apertures 35 of the side walls of the carrier and effectively prevent any appreciable movement between the carrier and pivot 16 and thus prevent loss of the pivot, it being understood that withdrawal of the pivot can only be accomplished when the carrier is moved bodily to dispose the apertures 36 into registering alignment with the pivot I6. The projections 20 thus not only limit turning movement of the cover about its axis of articulation but also operate to prevent loss of the pivot even though the spring should break and be lost.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that the same is subject to various modifications and I claim all variations coming within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a lid assembly for a journal box having an opening and a hinge lug adjacent one side of. the opening; said. assemblyincluding: a carr-ier' pivoted to, the-lugancha, cover pivoted .tolthe: carrier; a; coiliasp'ringr'havingsan intermediate coil portion bearing on the-J;carrierlandi arms extending in oppositedirection 7 from 'saidi coil," onev of said arms bearing on:the 1ug. 0f the:box;: and the other of said arms includingra pain-of arms leading towards the pivot uniting the" cover and carrier and terminating at an 'appreciable; distance from said pivot and an equalizing lever bearing on the carrieran'dmover :respectivelyand having the spring arms bearing' on-- said= lever intermediateits ends, said? bearing of the lever on the cover being conoentrated to onc -side of the pivotal mounting of they-cover. 1 2; In a'lidassembly-fora journal box having an opening and hinge ing at' oneside time opening, said assembly including a carrier pivoted to thelug and a-cover pivoted- 'to the carrier;- a torsion spring having a body coil portion 'bearing on the cover and oppositely exten'ding'arm portions bearing on the lug and' the other 'of said arm portions leading towards the=-pivoted mounting of the cover, said last named--- arm portion consisting 1 of a pair I of legsformed by the two ends of the spring and each having an inwardly extending laterally projecting trunnion portion; an equalizing lever pivotally engaging said trunnion portions of the spring and oppositely extending lever arms leading therefrom in opposite directions, one of said arms engaging with the carrier and the other of said arms consisting of a flat body portion of extended width having a depending flange resting on the cover, said cover having a transversely extending curved bearing surface for engaging with the depending flange of the lever to permit of relative rocking movement between the cover and the lever.

3. In a lid assembly for journal boxes and the like having an opening and a hinge lug at one side of the opening and a pivot extending through the lug; said assembly including a carrier pivoted to the hinge lug and a cover pivoted to the carrier, said carrier having a pair of side walls straddling the hinge lug, hinging ears extending outwardly laterally from the said side walls, said ears having an elongated chambered portion having an aperture for the insertion of the pivot therethrough and a depressed pocket adjacent thereto for receiving the hinging pivot in the lower part thereof when the lid is pivoted to the carrier, said cover having projecting lugs extending beyond the body portion of the cover into the chambered portion of the hinging ears and in a plane parallel to the face of the aperture for engagement with the pivot to thereby limit the extent of pivotal movement of the cover about its axial mounting and restrain bodily movement of the carrier relatively to the pivot.

4. In a lid assembly for a journal box having an opening and a hinge lug at one side of the opening, said assembly including a carrier pivoted to the lug and a cover pivoted to the carrier, said carrier including a pan having a pair of side walls, connecting end walls between said respective side walls and a wall connecting said respective side and end walls, said carrier at one end having the side walls disposed on the respective side of the hinge lug and said carrier having at the end opposite to the hinge lug a pivot receiving lug disposed outwardly beyond the pan shaped portion; and a pair of transversely aligned lugs disposed on the cover, said lugs lying on the opposite sides of the lug of the carrier; a pivot extending through said respective aligned lugs; a torsion spring having a coil mediate its ends to said legs to present lever arms extending in opposite directions from said pivot, one of said arms bearing on the cover and the other of said arms resting on the cover at a location intermediate the pivotal axes of the said carrier.

5. In a lid assembly for a journal box having an opening and a hinge lug adjacent one side of the opening, said assembly including a carrier having side walls straddling the hinge lug and a cover movably connected to the carrier; a pivot seated with respect to the side walls and mounted to extend through the hinge lug of the box, said side walls of the carrier having limiting end wall sections extending in the plane of the pivot when said carrier is mounted in operative relation and operating to limit outward axial movement of the pivot; apertures in the side walls adjacent the limiting end wall sections 'for the accommodation of the pivot therethi'o'ugh, said carrier being bodily displaceable to dispose the'apertures of the side walls in alignment with the pivot when the latter is in position in the hinge lug for removal and insertion of the pivot and said carrier being movable to dispose the limiting end walls in the plane of the pivot; and projections on the cover disposed to straddle the hinge lug of the box and extended into the plane of the apertures to intersect the pivot and limit relative movement between the cover and carrier and operating tomaintain the carrier and its mounting pivot in a definite spaced relation with the limiting end wall sections lying in the plane of the pivot.

GEORGE B. DOREY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

v UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Dorey -r Aug. 11, 1942 

